Snoop Dogg, RZA and Common to Be Featured in ‘The Simpsons’ Hip-Hop Episode

Snoop Dogg, RZA and Common are joining the animated world of The Simpsons. All three rappers will appear in an upcoming Simpsons episode, which will serve as a hip-hop homage to F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby.

The veteran MCs will play themselves alongside fellow guest stars like Taraji P. Henson and comedian Keegan-Michael Key. The special hour-long episode, titled "The Great Phatsby," will tell the story of a doomed friendship between Mr. Burns and a mysterious hip-hop mogul named Jay G.

“We wanted the Mt. Rushmore of rap, and we got it,” Simpsons producer Dan Greaney told Entertainment Weekly about the casting of Snoop, RZA and Common. “They represent different moods and different aspects of the history of hip-hop.”

Jim Beanz, a producer on FOX's hip-hop drama Empire, also created some original songs for this episode. Although the episode has a Great Gatsby-inspired plot, it will still have plenty of humor in it.

The special episode of The Simpsons is scheduled to air in January. While The Simpsons has been on the air for well over 25 years, "The Great Phatsby" will be the show's first-ever hour-long episode. The animated series ran a two-part episode called “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” in 1995, but it was aired across two seasons.